1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a hypertext display device and a hypertext display system, and is a technique adaptable to a browser for displaying hypertext data used in WWW of the Internet, an Intranet and the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
Internet Explorer of Microsoft Inc. and Netscape Navigator of Netscape Inc. are famous each as a browser for displaying hypertext information present in the World Wide Web (WWW) of the Internet, an Intranet and the like. Using the browser, a location where a hypertext information is stored is designated and a content of the hypertext information is displayed on a personal computer. In the user interface, a user generally designates URL (Uniform Resource Locator) information directly by keyboard entry or indirectly by clicking on an icon or a character string on the display, which shows a link to other data.
Currently, a target piece of hypertext information is retrieved from the WWW by tracing the link, for example, by using a directory service.
Retrieving information by tracing the link is problem some because (1) operation is complex and a user has to get familiar with the operation, and (2) since there are many accesses to hypertext data before the user reaches a target piece of hypertext information, time and communication cost to retrieve the information are required especially when there is employed a slow connection condition, such as dialing-up through a telephone line.
Another problem is that (3) hypertext data of the Internet or the Intranet are generally complexly linked to each other by link information and thereby, there is a possibility that a user may be confused in the course of tracing the link. Another problem arises that when a hypertext is displayed in the off-line state, in which the hypertext display device is not connected with a network, the user cannot access to linked side information in display if the linked side information is present on the network. In this case, the user necessarily has to memorize or note an address (for example, URL) of the linked side information and access the information at a later time. This is cumbersome and therefore disturbs a user's smooth reading of hypertext information on the WWW.
On the other hand, there is a technique in which a small-sized portable terminal called “mobile” is used and connected to the WWW of the Internet. Concerned with mobility, performance or a memory capacity is limited, and a browser with a simple function is loaded thereon. For that reason, when the mobile is connected to the Internet, information that the mobile can obtain is limited. For example, some mobiles cannot display image data.
Therefore, if the user wants to obtain an image datum, he has to access to the same site again using an ordinary personal computer, and enter the same operation in the computer in order to access the target information, which is further cumbersome.